1946 American League Baseball Debuts / Rookies by Baseball Almanac

1946 American League Debuts

Willie Mays played his first Major League game on May 25, 1951, and went 0-for-5 at the plate. He started his career 1-for-25 and told his manager, "I can't do it, Mr. Leo. You better bench me."

Casey Stengel played his first Major League game on July 27, 1912, and went 4-for-4 at the plate. He commented later in his life, "I broke in with four hits and the writers promptly decided they had seen the new Ty Cobb. It took me only a few days to correct that impression."

Both Mays and Stengel would continue their Major League careers down separate paths of greatness, but each still had to appear in that memorable first Major League game. Baseball Almanac is pleased to present what Cubs broadcaster Steve Stone once described as, "His first Major League debut."

"There is no Major League record held by a rookie. It's revealing to see just how far the rookie marks are below the single season marks. This is a testament to how difficult the game is to learn and play." - Luke Salisbury in The Answer is Baseball (1989)

American League Debuts 1946
#	Name (sort)	Team (sort)	Debut (sort)	Age (sort)
35	Ernie Andres	1946 Boston Red Sox	04-16-1946	28
34	Mel Deutsch	1946 Boston Red Sox	04-21-1946	30
38	Eddie McGah	1946 Boston Red Sox	04-26-1946	24
39	Eddie Pellagrini	1946 Boston Red Sox	04-22-1946	28
8, 26	Ralph Hamner	1946 Chicago White Sox	04-28-1946	29
-	Joe Smaza	1946 Chicago White Sox	09-18-1946	23
34	Frank Whitman	1946 Chicago White Sox	06-30-1946	21
45	Ray Flanigan	1946 Cleveland Indians	09-20-1946	23
20	Bob Kuzava	1946 Cleveland Indians	09-21-1946	23
12	Sherm Lollar	1946 Cleveland Indians	04-20-1946	21
33	Ralph McCabe	1946 Cleveland Indians	09-18-1946	27
46	Dale Mitchell	1946 Cleveland Indians	09-15-1946	25
35	Jackie Price	1946 Cleveland Indians	08-18-1946	33
42	Ralph Weigel	1946 Cleveland Indians	09-18-1946	24
34	Ted Gray	1946 Detroit Tigers	05-15-1946	21
24	Johnny Groth	1946 Detroit Tigers	09-05-1946	20
35	Lou Kretlow	1946 Detroit Tigers	09-26-1946	25
20	Anse Moore	1946 Detroit Tigers	04-17-1946	28
38	Yogi Berra	1946 New York Yankees	09-22-1946	21
3	Eddie Bockman	1946 New York Yankees	09-11-1946	26
7	Bobby Brown	1946 New York Yankees	09-22-1946	21
18, 26	Karl Drews	1946 New York Yankees	09-08-1946	26
16, 38	Frank Hiller	1946 New York Yankees	05-25-1946	25
40	Herb Karpel	1946 New York Yankees	04-19-1946	28
14, 20	Cuddles Marshall	1946 New York Yankees	04-24-1946	20
24, 37	Gus Niarhos	1946 New York Yankees	06-09-1946	25
12	Vic Raschi	1946 New York Yankees	09-23-1946	27
29, 41	Steve Souchock	1946 New York Yankees	05-25-1946	27
30	Bill Wight	1946 New York Yankees	04-17-1946	24
33	George Armstrong	1946 Philadelphia Athletics	04-26-1946	21
14	Jake Caulfield	1946 Philadelphia Athletics	04-24-1946	28
28	Pat Cooper	1946 Philadelphia Athletics	05-11-1946	28
31	Lee Griffeth	1946 Philadelphia Athletics	06-25-1946	21
15	Gene Handley	1946 Philadelphia Athletics	04-16-1946	31
40	Bill McCahan	1946 Philadelphia Athletics	09-15-1946	25
22	George Bradley	1946 St. Louis Browns	04-28-1946	32
2	Bob Dillinger	1946 St. Louis Browns	04-16-1946	27
39	Chet Johnson	1946 St. Louis Browns	09-12-1946	29
21	Ellis Kinder	1946 St. Louis Browns	04-30-1946	31
19	Paul Lehner	1946 St. Louis Browns	09-10-1946	26
23	Les Moss	1946 St. Louis Browns	09-10-1946	21
16	Ray Shore	1946 St. Louis Browns	09-21-1946	25
37	Jerry Witte	1946 St. Louis Browns	09-10-1946	31
22	Gil Coan	1946 Washington Senators	04-27-1946	23
39	Ray Goolsby	1946 Washington Senators	04-18-1946	26
#	Name (sort)	Team (sort)	Debut (sort)	Age (sort)
1946 American League Debuts

1946 N.L. Debuts

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the American League during the 1946 season as this group of players made their Major League debut!

Rich Amaral spent nine seasons in the Minor Leagues and upon his callup he commented, "I've been to every baseball park in America, except those in the American and National League."

On the final day of the 1930 season, Dizzy Dean was called up and pitched a three-hitter. In Spring Training the following year, Dean had a fight with catcher Gabby Street and the franchise left him in the Minor Leagues all season long.

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